Mazatlán, the World and Photography from a different perspective............

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

British Expat Subculture and Why I Dislike It....Or A Cautionary Tale For All Expat Ghetto Dwellers

The British tourist has traditionally been considered
rude, mean, poorly behaved and linguistically incompetent. Whereas the
stereotype of the holiday in the UK is all red buses, telephone boxes
and the London Eye, the stereotype of the UK holidaymaker abroad is a
sun-reddened shirtless and overweight man translating from English to
the local tongue by shouting instructions and flailing gesturing arms
energetically.

Glaringly obvious then that the stereotype of the British expatriate
isn’t all that favourable either. Having lived for much of their lives
in the constant murkiness of British weather, the stereotypical British
expatriate has been attempting to harness the power of the Mediterranean sun
to power an existence as British as roast beef and just as bland. They
socialise with other expatriates in bars named after famous London
landmarks, shop in British supermarkets and speak Spanish less fluently
than Christina Aguilera.

Spain is a traditional country for the British retiree to escape to but now that lifestyle is coming to an end by the European downturn.

As many expat retirees rely on a combination of pensions, stock and home
equity to fund their retirements, it is no surprise that the crisis has
seen many of them in dire straits. Unsold and unsellable Spanish homes
mean that although a house may be worth money on paper, there is no comfort to be had in a stagnant market. Likewise, the share
market is slow to recover, and the former quarterly windfalls in the
form of dividends have either dried up to a trickle or turned red as the
international money-bleed is tipped to continue through 2011 and
beyond.

British expats in Spain now live in the same kind of no-man's land that
political asylum seekers and recent immigrants face in Britain. The
inherently racist attitudes to outsiders in the UK (suspicion at best
and outright abuse at worst) is now at work against against British
expats. This hostile attitude is, in part, understandable. The vocal minority of
British expats who enjoyed all of the comforts of sun and inexpensive
living while moaning endlessly about local 'laziness' and the annoyances
of Spanish bureaucracy have done little to invoke local sympathy in
hard times.

While many expats do try to learn the language and involve
themselves in their community, the slightest hint of a British
Imperialist attitude is enough to turn an already proud and defensive
people against expats. Now, when the ghetto-dwellers need the help and
understanding of their community, it is clear that there is
no community to turn to.

A stronger push on the part of expats to quietly, and humbly
assimilate into Spanish life could provide a framework for future
cultural understanding in times of need. The obvious truth is that a petty
thief is unlikely to break into the home of a known - and well-liked
neighbour - no matter what their country of origin is. Similarly, a
known and well-liked neighbour will never die forgotten in a Spanish
apartment. The beauty of the Spanish 'nosy neighbour' is that he or she
is more likely break down your door than passively wonder where you
went.

Expats who refuse to live in the now-silent ghettos know this
first-hand.